Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

From the time I was young I always loved words. Some of my favorite games to play were Scrabble and Boggle. I love learning new vocabulary and discovering meanings. Words are like keys that unlock understanding.

There are many key words in the Bible. Joy is one that keeps popping up over and over again. Though joy may be an easy find in the game of Boggle it is not so easy to find when it comes to life experiences. The Bible states that joy should characterize the life of a Christian. It is a gift of God and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to find it in the midst of trials and the joy of the Lord is to give us strength. Why then are so many of God’s people devoid of this important key word?

While reading my Bible the other day I came across another word that I believe holds the key to unlocking the experience of joy in our lives.

Confidence is another word laced throughout the Apostle Paul’s writings. He often speaks of joy and confidence together. As I highlighted these words in my Bible, a light bulb suddenly flipped on in my mind. The ability to have joy despite our circumstances depends upon where we place our confidence.

People who have confidence don’t tend to become bothered by things. Yet as Christians our confidence is not to be in ourselves but in God. “Such confidence we have through Christ our God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God”(1 Cor. 3:4-5).

The confidence that Paul speaks about is not a good feeling about ourselves, but a complete assurance that God has everything in our lives under control. How then do we gain this confidence, which unlocks our joy? It comes from truly knowing God’s identity, God’s heart, and God’s power.

God’s Identity:
God is our Creator and heavenly Father. He is characterized by infinite attributes such as self-existence, self-sufficiency, unchangeableness, all seeing, complete wisdom, omniscience, and omnipresence to name a few. He is the giver of grace and peace, for all who receive Him as their Lord and Savior (Phil 1:2).

God’s Heart: He loved the world so much that “He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). For those who believe, He begins a good work in their lives that He promises to perfect in the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6).

God’s Power: He is able to accomplish all that He has promised. He is able to take the most difficult of circumstances and turn it around for good. Trials serve to strengthen our faith and spread God’s plan of salvation. Paul was able to see this clearly even in the middle of his unjust imprisonment. His trial turned out for the greater progress of the salvation message. Many people, including his prison guards, heard the gospel and trusted in Christ. His imprisonment also served to give the other Christians courage to speak the word of God without fear (Phil 1:12-14).

So if we want to experience joy in our lives, then we, just like Paul, must be fully persuaded of Who God is. We must be assured of the unfailing tenderness of His loving heart. And we must have complete confidence in His power to accomplish all that He sets out to do.

If we develop this type of unwavering confidence in our God, then joy, despite our circumstances, will be as easy to find as it is in the game of Boggle.

Love,

Mama

Welcome to Verses From Mama. Open these letters and receive words of truth, healing and hope written to all who long for a mama’s touch. ~Sandy